Putin Encourages Freedom

World News to Note

December 21, 2000

MOSCOW -- Russia's most visible KGB veteran, President Vladimir Putin, on Wednesday urged former colleagues to learn from the repressive past of Soviet-era secret services and to apply their skills toward defending democracy. Putin's speech in the Kremlin -- followed by a concert and dinner -- was timed to mark Chekist's Day, a Soviet-era holiday commemorating the Dec. 20, 1917, establishment of the secret police, the Cheka.